The (un)sustainability of fashion industry

: fashion-on-demand as solution?

Abstract

Nowadays, sustainability is the world’s agenda. The fashion industry is undoubtedly one of the industries with the biggest environmental impactand less sustainable. With the increasing environmental awareness, the pandemic and change of behaviors and lifestyle, the industry has looked to adapt to consumers’ needs, though these efforts are still insufficient. In order to fully address this issue, it is necessary to rethink and alter the fashion brands’ business models. This thesis focuses on the business model of fashion on-demand/made to order, which means that brands only start manufacturing the piece after the customer buys it, eliminating waste. The research question proposed by this paper is: “How can fashion brands implement the fashion-on demand business model?”. To answer the research question, I conducted a comparative case study on two brands: Constança Entrudo and Campos. This thesis is useful for managers and brands that operate within the fashion industry, explaining how to implement it and providing the advantages and disadvantages of on-demand business model. The main findings demonstrate that in order to implement fashion-on-demand, brands have to adapt all areas and components of its business model, especially its value proposition and its key resources and partners.

Date of Award	24 Jan 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Laure Leglise (Supervisor)